Kabushiki Kaisha (KK) is the most popular kind of corporation in Japan and similar to the joint stock corporation in the U.S. KK is the best-known legal entity in Japan. There is no need to make a long explation when you introduce your company to the general consumers. Another merit of establishing KK is that it has various ways of raising funds such as issuing stock options and so on.

Following is the flow of procedures to set up Kabushiki Kaisha (incorporation without offering).

Some of the characteristics of incorporatiing in Japan are:

1. A resident representative is no longer necessary. You can incorporate a company with non-resident directors only.
2. Head office should be in Japan.
3. A company should register specific business purposes in layman's terms, especially when a company wishes to obtain business licenses/approvals.
4. Time required to form a Kabushiki Kaisha is about one month if prior notification to the Bank of Japan is not necessary. Prior notification to the Bank of Japan is necessary when a company/branch is going to conduct a business which is strategically important to Japan such as military, electricity, etc. Please ask us for details.